Since 2013, our smoking cessation interventions have helped:
Our studies found substantial health benefits from reducing cigarette consumption and smoking prevention, including reduced mortality from lung cancer, stroke and other tobacco-attributed diseases. Our research findings have been widely disseminated locally by press conferences and events with wide media coverage, and internationally through collaboration, academic publications and conferences/seminars to raise public awareness of tobacco hazards, passive smoking and benefits of quitting. All these knowledge have significantly influenced the government’s actions on working towards the tobacco endgame in Hong Kong.
Smoking Cessation Service & Promotion Campaign
In 2006, we established the 1st smoking cessation training for health care professionals in Hong Kong and Mainland China, which has laid the groundwork for current smoking cessation services. Since October 2013, we have trained:
to deliver brief smoking cessation interventions and Quitline counselling. Our innovative proactive recruitment and brief interventions have been adopted by the Hong Kong Council on Smoking and Health (statutory body on tobacco control promotion) in community smoke-free campaigns “Quit-to-Win” starting from 2009; recruitment strategies adopted by TWGHs Integrated Smoking Cessation Centers (main cessation provider in Hong Kong); and brief cessation intervention adopted by Lok Sin Ton Benevolence Kowloon for more than 2000 workplace smokers. Our Youth Quitline is one of the smoking cessation services incorporated into the Department of Health Quitline 1833183.
In addition, we have developed a validated Smoking Cessation Service Evaluation Tool which has been adopted by different regions in China and deliberately promoted to other Southeast Asian countries. It has outlined the framework for regional authorities to develop an accreditation system for smoking cessation services.
Our extensive experience in smoking cessation training has also called the attention of Tobacco Control Office, Department of Health to fund our subvention project on developing online training for healthcare professionals and an accreditation tool for local smoking cessation clinics. The online training will be the first large-scale training programme for health care professionals in the WHO Western Pacific Region including Mainland China.